E.—2

7

One of the leading schools of this group is Tokaanu, which, since its establishment on the present site, has'been ably conducted by Mr. A. G. Hamilton. There have been very few schools possessed of a record of such solid work as has been exhibited here. After the last examination the leading men of the tribe themselves testified to the good' work that the school had wrought, not only amongst the children, but also, in its secondary effect, on the people. As Mr. Hamilton has left the service of the Department to take charge of the new Turakina Maori Girls' School, a position for which, from his long and successful experience of twenty-four years' work in Maori education, he is eminently qualified, it seems but fitting that, while expressing regret at losing his valued services, we should congratulate him and wish him and his family every success in his new sphere. Group X. — South Island Schools. These are Waikawa, Wairau, Mangamaunu, Kaiapoi, Rapaki, Little River, Arowhenua, Waikouaiti, The Neck, and Ruapuke. Formerly were included for inspection and examination the two subsidised schools Whangarae (Croiselles) and Okoha. From these, however, for reasons stated elsewhere in this report, the subsidy was withdrawn, and they were not inspected or examined owing to this and also to the fact that time did not permit. . . Of course, in South Island schools, one misses many of the characteristics of the ordinary Native school. The children dress in European fashion, some of them quite ala mode ; they talk English and know little Maori. A child spoken to in Maori by his parent replies in English. There are still, however, cogent reasons why most of these schools at any rate should be retained by the Department, one being the prejudice of Europeans in some places against Maori children. The majority of these schools may be regarded as satisfactory as regards the work done at the examination. In one of the Marlborough schools a considerable advance had been made. There were, however, in other schools, many points of weakness, and a considerable falling off was noticeable in at least two of them. The attendance at Waikawa has been of late so unsatisfactory that it seems questionable whether the school should be carried on, the people apparently having lost all interest Rapaki School was closed for some time owing to the retirement of the late teacher, and pending the appointment of a suitable successor. It was therefore inspected but not examined, and the work there now seems to be going on much more satisfactorily. At three of these schools—Kaiapoi, Little River, and Waikouaiti—some first-rate specimens of handwork, which forms part of the curriculum, were exhibited. The work in paper-designing at the first two schools was really admirable. In several of these schools I was very pleased with the intelligent work of the highest classes and its neat arrangement. One of the weakest subjects, strange to say, was geography, and there were several failures in this subject. Reading in some of the lowest classes exhibited the'same fault as is to be met with in so many schools—a word-by-word recital, with more or less imperfect pronunciation and lacking both fluency and accuracy. There is nothing to be gained by promoting to Standard I. children who have not previously become thoroughly acquainted with the sounds of the English consonants, indeed, promotion in such cases only courts trouble and failure in the higher class. The extra subjects at these schools are on the whole good, the drill especially showing improvement. Boarding-schools, etc. There were in 1904 five boarding-schools which afford higher education to Maori pupils. Of these three are established for girls and two for boys. Lately a new girls' school at Turakina has been opened, under the auspices of the authorities of the Presbyterian Church in New Zealand. There are now, therefore, four institutions in the North Island which afford higher education to Maori girls. I find it incumbent upon me to again correct the impression that prior to the establishment of the Queen Victoria Girls' School in Auckland and the new Girls' School at Turakina the higher education of Maori girls had been neglected. Such an impression is entirely wrong :no one who has taken an interest in the higher education of the Maori can possibly overlook the excellent work done for Maori girls during a period of probably a quarter of a century by the authorities of Hukarere Protestant Girls' School and St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Girls' School, Napier. Owing to pressure of work during the year, I was unable to pay the ordinary visits of inspection. The examination of these institutions was conducted by the Inspector-General of Schools, whose assistance in thus relieving me of this part of my work I wish here gratefully to acknowledge. The following is the substance of his report on the various schools : — St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Girls' School, Napier.— The examination of this school afforded evidence of the high degree of care and attention given to the instruction of the pupils. Some of-the results were excellent, for instance, the English and arithmetic of Standard V., the arithmetic of Standard IV., all the work of Standards 111., 11., and I. ; the rest of the work was very fair. Brush drawing has been taken up with a considerable" degree of success. The singing and needlework were excellent. If there was a fault it was that the pupils placed too much reliance on their memory ; this would probably be corrected if the physiology were taught practically, and if the geography and other parts of naturestudy were based more directly on the observation of the children. All the work was exceedingly neat. Hukarere Protestant Girls' School, Napier.—The examination showed signs of careful and conscientious work during the year. It is necessary, however, to emphasize the need for securing complete comprehension of the English in the different classes of the school, for making the instruction in arithmetic and geography more concrete, and for doing the necessary practical work in physiology and nature-study, as well as in cooking, house-work, and needlework, where it already receives a fair amount of attention.